


Sunset to the Unforgettable

by NicholasFlamelFan



Series: Of Ideas and Collections (The Alchemy Lab) [37]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Character Death, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Panic Attacks, Past Child Abuse, Protective Julie Molina, Song Lyrics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:15:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27178432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NicholasFlamelFan/pseuds/NicholasFlamelFan
Summary: The band had been his everything... Luke had been his everything until he died. Now, Dylan was just trying to survive as best as he could with the cards that he had been dealt. His home life keeps getting worse until everything falls apart for a second time. Adjusting to being dead wasn't as hard as he thought. The evil ghosts, trying to steal his soul, on the other hand, he could do without. He just wanted to go back to writing music and being with the people he loved
Relationships: Alex & Luke Patterson & Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina & Original Male Character(s), Luke Patterson/Original Male Character(s), Reggie (Julie and the Phantoms) & Original Male Character(s) & Alex (Julie and the Phantoms)
Series: Of Ideas and Collections (The Alchemy Lab) [37]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1399345
Comments: 10
Kudos: 18





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Faceclaim: Ross Lynch

Dylan smiled when the guys finished their song, having been watching the soundcheck from the sidelines. He preferred not to be on stage with them for the bigger gigs, especially when it was a day like today. His parents had found out that he was gay and while his mother just ignored him like she always did, his father freaked. It wasn’t exactly unusual… Lately, everything Dylan did caused his father to flip and take it out on him. He wrapped an arm around his stomach and grimaced at the thought of last night. The boys didn’t know about his family and while he was sure that they at least suspected something was up, they never really asked him about it.

Luke jumped down from the stage and made a beeline for Dylan, pulling him into a sweaty hug “What did you think?” he asked, a huge grin on his face.

“You were awesome,” Dylan told him, letting his head rest on Luke’s shoulder for a moment before he caught sight of the other guys “You all were.”

Reggie bounced on the balls of his feet, hugging Dylan from behind “We would be nothing without you and Luke. This song is awesome.”

Luke nodded “One of our best,” he whispered, leaning forward to press a kiss to Dylan’s lips “Are you sure you don’t want to play with us tonight?”

“Really sure,” Dylan nodded.

Bobby tilted his head. While Dylan had always been closer to the other three members of Sunset Curve, the two had a silent understanding and Bobby even showed Dylan how to play the guitar whenever the younger of the two needed a place to stay “You know that we would love to have you on stage with us, right?”

“I know,” Dylan smiled, linking his hand with Luke’s “But you know that I prefer to stay out of the limelight. Smaller gigs are alright but this… this is huge.”

“Isn’t it?” Reggie exclaimed before he frowned “So… What about food, I’m starving.”

Alex snorted “You’re always starving, Reggie.”

Bobby rolled his eyes at them before catching sight of the girl who had cheered them on, making his way over to her “You guys go ahead.” The others exchanged an amused look and followed him.

“You guys are really good,” the girl told them as soon as they reached her.

Luke squeezed Dylan’s hand and nudged him “Thank you,” he told her honestly.

“I see a lot of bands. Been in a couple myself. I was really feeling it,” she smiled.

“That’s what we do this for,” Luke shrugged “I’m Luke, by the way. That’s Dylan.”

“Hi, I’m Reggie.”

Alex shook his head at Reggie “Alex.”

“Bobby.” He groaned when Luke stuck his finger into his ear, glaring at the lead singer.

The girl’s lips twitched as she inclined her head “Nice meeting you guys. I’m Rose.”

“Oh, uh…” Reggie fumbled around, trying to pull their demo out of his pocket and failing quite spectacularly “Here’s our demo. And a T-Shirt. Size beautiful.”

Rose took it from him “Thanks. I’ll… Make sure not to wipe the tables down with this one.”

Alex nodded frantically “Oh, good call. Whenever they get wet, they just kinda fall apart in your hands.”

Bobby sighed to himself “Don’t you guys have to go get hot dogs?”

“Right. Dyl, you coming?” Luke asked.

Dylan grimaced “Thanks, but I’m really not hungry.”

Luke let go of Dylan’s hand and leaned forward “Yeah.” He winked at Rose before nodding to Bobby “He had a hamburger for lunch.” With that, he turned and walked away, Reggie and Alex following.

Once they were gone, Dylan looked from Bobby to Rose “I’ll just be…” He gestured over his shoulder to the stage “Do you mind if I use your guitar, Bobby? I had an idea earlier.”

“No, go ahead,” Bobby waved at him before turning his attention back to Rose.


	2. Life Goes On

“Dad, please,” Dylan pleaded, trying to stop the tears from falling down his cheeks. He had debated whether or not to even go home tonight but he didn’t have anywhere else to stay. Not anymore. Not after… He sniffed, rubbing at his eyes before flinching backwards when his father let out a loud snarl.

“Stop crying,” the older man hissed, stalking closer to his son “And don’t call me dad, do you understand me, you little fag?”

Dylan ducked his head “Yes, sir,” he mumbled quietly.

A loud slap echoed through the room “Look at me when you’re speaking, boy.”

“Yes, sir,” Dylan repeated, looking up at his father nervously. He couldn’t stop thinking about the others… Luke, Reggie and Alex were gone. His best friends were gone… He had no one anymore, not even Bobby. The older boy had disappeared as soon as they had gotten the news and Dylan didn’t feel right going to Emily and Mitch anymore. They had already lost their son. He didn’t need to cause them any more grief and he knew that his own problems would stop them from grieving “Sorry, sir.”

“So, I got an interesting phone call earlier,” Dylan’s father smirked, gripping his son’s jaw in his hand tightly “Do you want to know what it’s about?” When Dylan didn’t answer, he transferred his grip to the boy’s hair “When I ask you a question, you answer. That band you spent time with made you forget all the manners I taught you, didn’t they? Too bad they’re gone now, eh? Oh, are you going to cry again? Your little boyfriend is gone, so you’re stuck with me now.”

* * *

“Dylan?” Mitch frowned, looking at the soaked boy on his porch. He hadn’t heard from him in months. Ever since Luke died, it was like Dylan had disappeared off the face of the Earth.

Dylan wrapped his arms around himself, trying to stop his body from shivering “I didn’t know where else to go,” he admitted quietly “I’m sorry… I can go.”

“No, no,” Mitch shook his head, stepping back a little “Come on in. You’re soaked.”

Dylan hesitated for a moment before he moved towards the house he had spent so much time not half a year ago. Coming here had always helped him. Emily and Mitch were like the parents he never got to have and he often came here even after Luke ran away. More than once, he had tried to get the other boy to see reason and go back but Luke never listened and now it was too late.

“Mitch? Who was at the…” Emily broke off when she saw the shivering mess that had been her son’s boyfriend “Dylan? Oh. Oh, dear. Come in. Why don’t you go and dry off while I make you a nice warm tea?”

“No,” he shook his head, desperately trying to stop the tears from falling. He had missed them so much “No, you don’t have to…”

Emily smiled at him, her heart going out for the young boy. Even younger than her Luke had been and he had lost so much already “Nonsense, love. Come on. I’ll get you some of…” she swallowed the lump in her throat “Some of Luke’s clothes.”

“I don’t…”

“Em, why don’t I give him some of my stuff, hm?” Mitch asked, shooting Dylan a look “It’s probably not as cool as the stuff you have.” He gestured to the wet clothes with a small, awkward smile “But it’ll do.”

Dylan wiped some water from his face unsure whether those were tears or rain “Yeah,” he whispered.

“Well, come on, then,” Mitch nodded “You know where the bathroom is. I’ll put the clothes in front of the door when you’re done.”

It didn’t take him long to find a sweater and some sweatpants that wouldn’t completely swallow the boy and put them in front of the bathroom door before he went back downstairs to join his wife.

“What do you think happened?” Emily fretted, wringing her hands in the dish towel she was holding.

Mitch ran a hand through his hair “Probably the same reason that brought him here so often in the last couple of years,” he shrugged tiredly.

“I’m so glad that he is here,” Emily remarked, a gentle smile on her face “He is one of the last pieces of Luke that we have left…”

“He is hurting too,” Mitch pointed out.

Emily wiped a tear from her cheek “That poor boy must have had it rough what with that father of his.”

Mitch chewed on his lip “I completely forgot about that,” he admitted quietly “For him to come here…”

“Something bad must have happened,” Emily agreed. She looked up when she heard footsteps on the stairs, smiling at Dylan “Here you go, dear. A nice, hot tea for you.”

“Thank you,” Dylan whispered, wrapping his hands around the mug. He had forgotten how natural it felt to be with Emily and Mitch. Even after Luke ran away and Dylan didn’t want him to know what his father did, he occasionally came here. It was part of why Luke’s parents didn’t worry about him as much as they would have otherwise. They knew where he was but decided to give him time. Dylan had told them that Luke had debated on whether to come home more than once and he had been so sure that after the Orpheum performance, Luke would have gone home. The two of them had talked about it more than once especially after Luke found out that Dylan had kept in contact with his parents. 

* * *

After a particularly bad week at home, Dylan crawled through the window to Luke’s room that had been left open and curled up on the bed, silently crying. Why didn’t his father love him? It was a question he had asked himself again and again but he never could find an answer. After his mother left when he was small, his father had changed so much and had started to blame Dylan for everything that went wrong in his life. It wasn’t fair.

“Dylan, dear, is that you?” Emily asked, poking her head through the door. She had heard sniffles coming from Luke’s room and it had taken her a moment to remember that they had started to leave the window open for the younger boy.

Dylan wiped at his eyes quickly, turning red-rimmed eyes to Emily “Sorry for just bursting in,” he mumbled.

Emily had seen the screaming pain and fear in the child’s eyes and her heart went out to him. They had tried everything to get him away from his father but the other man was a skilled liar and it seemed as if he had contacts in CPS that helped him bury the evidence of his abuse “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” Dylan told her, his voice cracking at the obvious lie.

“Sit up, dear,” Emily sighed and pulled out the first aid kit she had stashed by the door “And take your shirt off. Let’s look at the damage, alright?”

Dylan hesitated for a moment before he recognised the look in Emily’s eyes. The determined look she always got when either he or Luke were too stubborn to realise that they needed help “I can’t,” he whispered “My shoulder…”

“Do you mind if I cut it off?” Emily asked “Or do you want me to help you take it off?”

Dylan contemplated what to say next and whether he would manage to get his arm out of the sleeve but in the end, he just sighed “Cut.”

Emily nodded and grabbed the fabric scissors to start cutting the shirt. Her eyes widened silently as more and more wounds became obvious on the thin body in front of her. By the time she managed to cut the whole shirt off, her eyes were watery and she had to hold back the sob that wanted to escape her. No part of Dylan’s back was without a bruise, a welt or a cut. His whole torso looked like some twisted art piece and he was still bleeding from several of the welts “I’m so sorry, dear,” Emily spoke up, her voice choked with emotions that she tried to push back in favour of taking care of the boy “This is going to hurt.”

“Just do it,” Dylan told her tiredly. He just wanted to sleep and forget about his father for a while. Sadly, the man haunted his dreams frequently, so he couldn’t even escape him in his sleep. Everything had been so much easier when Luke and the guys were still there. They made him forget about the crappy life that was waiting for him back at home.

Technically, he still had Bobby but the older boy hadn’t talked to him since that night. He ignored Dylan at school and seemed to want to forget about everything that had happened. Dylan couldn’t really blame him for it. It hurt to suddenly be alone but he wasn’t selfish enough to ignore Bobby’s obvious wishes. If he didn’t want to talk to him, then he would accept it and not make a fuss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. This is going to be part of my early Christmas present to you guys. I did my best to write for as many Fics as possible for Christmas but the rest didn't work yet. For the Fics that haven't been updated in this wave, I'll try to get an update out till March (I have exams in February, so I should be able to get stuff done until March).
> 
> For those interested, feel free to join my Facebook Group (NicholasFlamel's Corner) where I post snippets of chapters I write, ideas I have and finished/abandoned Fics. Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/687956758591756

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this is just a little something I was toying with after watching the show... If you're interested in reading this, I'd love to continue this.


End file.
